This morning, Newt Gingrich pointed out just how long Mitt Romney has been running for office: “The fact is, you ran in '94 and lost, that's why you weren’t serving the Senate with Rick Santorum. The fact is, you had a very bad reelection rating, you dropped out of office, you had been out of state for something like 200 days preparing to run for president, you didn’t have this interlude of citizenship while you thought about what to do. You were running for president while you were governor, and you were going all over the country, you were out of state consistently. You then promptly re-entered politics – you then happen to lose to McCain as you had lost to Kennedy. Now you’re back running. You have been running consistently for years and years and years, so this idea that suddenly citizenship showed up in your mind, just level with the American people, you’ve been running since at least the 1990’s.”

ROMNEY HAS BEEN RUNNING FOR OFFICE SINCE 1994

Romney Has Been Running Since 1994 And “Would Have Been A Career Politician Too, If Only Voters Would Have Let Him.” Jonathan Last, senior writer at The Weekly Standard wrote of Romney: “It’s funny that Romney’s line of attack on Perry seems to be that Perry is a ‘career politician’ because he’s been in elective office since 1984. Well, Mitt Romney would have been a career politician too, if only voters would have let him. He’s been running since 1994. His real gripe about Perry is actually, ‘Hey, that guy wins all the time! No fair!’” [Jonathan Last’s Website, 8/29/11]

ROMNEY REINVENTED HIMSELF IN EACH OF HIS RUNS FOR PUBLIC OFFICE

LA Times: “In Each Of His Runs For Public Office, Romney Has Remade Himself.” “The problem has been fed by the fact that, in each of his runs for public office, Romney has remade himself. Last time out, he shed his moderate social views on abortion and gay rights, then struggled to convince primary voters of his conservative bona fides. A perception grew that the handsome candidate, with his almost-too-perfect hair and teeth and seemingly scripted answers to every question, would say anything to get elected.” [LA Times, 3/5/11]

“There Have Been Different Versions Of Mitt Romney” – Moderate 1994-2002, Social Conservative 2008, Economist 2012. “There have been different versions of Mitt Romney. When he ran for U.S. Senate against Ted Kennedy in 1994 and successfully for Massachusetts governor in 2002, he was the moderate, can-do businessman who supported abortion rights and distanced himself from Ronald Reagan. When he ran for president in 2008, Romney stressed social conservatism. He stressed his opposition to abortion rights, as well as tough anti-illegal immigration positions. These days Romney tries for a looser look, sans tie, and focuses on the economy.” [St. Petersburg Times, 6/16/11]

Romney Has Re-Invented Himself From “A Fairly Liberal US Senate Candidate” To “A Moderate Gubernatorial Candidate” To “A Conservative Presidential Candidate.” “But some of those same people concede that, as a political strategy, there are two big potential hazards to ‘letting Mitt be Mitt.’ First, Romney’s previous reinventions — as a fairly liberal US Senate candidate, a moderate gubernatorial candidate, and then as a conservative presidential candidate — have already strained his credibility beyond the breaking point. Any further change — even to become the real, authentic Romney — will be viewed with suspicion, if not derision.” [Boston Phoenix, 2/10/10]

In tonight’s Iowa Debate Mitt Romney casually offered a $10,000 bet, after calling a $1,500 tax break for the middle class a band-aid. Mitt Romney may not know what $10,000 means to middle class families, but here’s what the average American family can buy with $10,000:

While both Romney and Gingrich claim they’d support and defend Israel, they’ve both advocated for starting foreign aid at zero, including Israel. And a fundraiser for Romney served as a lobbyist for the Arab Bank, which was investigated by the Treasury Department for funneling money to Palestinian terrorists. Their records stand in stark contrast to President Obama, who has constantly demonstrated his unshakeable commitment to Israel’s security and well-being, strengthening the unbreakable bond between our two nations. In both word and deed, the President has signaled to the world that the US‐Israel relationship is stronger than ever.

On immigration, Mitt Romney’s position is the most far-right of the Republican field. Tonight, he once again highlighted his extreme plan and said, “My own view is, those 11 million should register the fact they're here in the country. They should give some transition period of time, allow them settle their affairs and then return home and get in line at the back of the line with everybody else that wants to come here.” With plans like this, it’s clear that Romney is continuing his race to the right and taking his place as one of the most extreme presidential candidates in American history on immigration.

First, Romney said his health care plan in Massachusetts would be a model for the nation. Then, he flip flopped and said it shouldn’t. In reality, the national health reform law that Romney has vowed to repeal was based on Romney’s plan in Massachusetts.

Both Romney and Gingrich claim their policies are good for the American middle class. But the reality is the economic plans they’ve embraced slash taxes on corporations and the wealthiest Americans and do nearly nothing for the middle class.

In 2007, Gingrich Praised The Freddie Mac Business Model And Warned Against Changing It, In Direct Contrast With His Current Assertion That He Warned The Mortgage Company Of Its “Insane” Business Practices.

First, Romney was against extending the payroll tax cut because it was a “temporary little Band-Aid.” Then, he said he’d “like to see the payroll tax cut extended” because it helps American families. And tonight, he again called the payroll tax cut a “little Band-Aid.” His flip-flopping on the payroll tax cut - and his economic plan - shows middle-class Americans whose side he’s really on. And if $1500 for the average American family is a “little Band-Aid,” then why does his plan only give them $54?

Tonight, Mitt Romney said that we need to have trade policies that make sense for America, not just for the people with whom we trade. This President has not done that. And China, who has been cheating, has to be cracked down on.

Romney can’t make up his mind on what his strategy would be in Afghanistan. First, he wouldn’t say what he’d do. Then in January, he said it was his “desire” not to leave Afghanistan. Five months later, he claimed he wanted the troops to come home as soon as possible.

Romney and the rest of the Republican field support zeroing out foreign aid, even with our closest allies – including Israel. But in true Romney fashion, after he supported zeroing out aid to Israel, he flip flopped and said he wanted to increase it instead. And at tonight’s debate, he said his first foreign trip as president would be to Israel to demonstrate our strong relationship.

President Obama has launched a series of trailblazing initiatives to protect the health and safety of the American people, reduce our dependence on imported oil and promote responsible use of domestic energy and new, clean energy technologies

The latest GOP debate proved that none of the Republican candidates have a plan to create jobs. But we did hear from Rick Perry about Mitt Romney’s record on jobs, and from Romney on Perry’s record on children’s health care.

At last night's GOP presidential debate, instead of offering a plan to improve the lives of middle-class Americans, the Republican candidates fought over which one of them has changed their position the most since their books came out. None of them managed to offered a single new idea.

Rick Perry can try to blame others for the state of health care in Texas, but middle-class Texans know the reality: Under Governor Perry’s policies, health insurance premiums have risen 105 percent, nearly 6.5 million Texans are uninsured, and the state has spent as little as possible on health care.

If there’s one thing debate watchers could count on, it’s a full-fledged attack on Social Security from the Republican candidates. These are the same candidates who have previously called for privatizing Social Security and even labeled it a “Ponzi scheme” – and we heard more of the same tonight.

Mitt Romney claims he’ll lower taxes for the middle class, but his plan will actually let special interests write their own rules, provide more tax cuts to large corporations and wealthy Americans, and cost $2.1 trillion.

Tonight’s debate confirmed that the Republican candidates are more interested in saying what the Tea Party wants to hear than in doing what the American people are demanding: -- more interested in arguing if Social Security is a "fraud" or a "Ponzi scheme" than in creating jobs.

From Rick Perry criticizing Mitt Romney's record on jobs to Jon Huntsman's charge that his fellow Republicans are running from science, the Republican candidates took the gloves off and attacked each other at last night's debate.

The Republican candidates attacked President Obama on border security, but his record is clear: unprecedented resources for securing our border and a smart and effective approach to enforcing immigration laws.

President Obama has been pursuing all forms of responsible domestic energy production -- including a record investment in clean technology and the approval of the first new nuclear plant in 30 years. The Republican candidates, however, would all protect special tax breaks for oil companies at the expense of middle class families.

Though the Republican candidates rail against health care reform now, their criticism ignores the reality of their records. Two candidates implemented similar health reforms in their states and another’s has the highest rate of uninsured people in the nation.

While Mitt Romney might like to claim that he’s the Republican candidate with the economic experience needed to be president, his record – from ranking 47th in job creation to raising taxes on individuals and businesses – tells a very different story.

While Perry might like to talk about the "Texas miracle," the reality is it’s just another Texas Tall Tale – just remember that growth has been driven by factors he didn’t control, like rising oil prices and increased military spending.

As governor, Mitt Romney bragged to the S&P that he had cut spending and raised taxes in Massachusetts. But at tonight’s debate, he flip flopped on the balanced approach he once took, even rejecting a compromise proposal of 10 spending cuts to every one revenue increase.

In tonight’s debate, Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann reiterated that they opposed the compromise debt agreement. They in fact are following the extreme wing of their party that would have allowed our nation to default for the first time in history, which would have had disastrous effects for our economy.